The Indian Army

6 Interesting Facts about the Indian Armed Forces

The history of the Indian Army dates back to more than ten thousand years. The concepts of our ancient epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, form the framework of the Indian Army.

Today, the Indian Army is the third biggest military force in the world, USA being the first and China, second. There are 1,129,900 active troops and 960,000 reserve troops in our army.

The Indian Army has three strong wings – Land force, Air force and Naval. These three wings have three Chiefs who work directly under the President of India.

The Siachen glacier is the world’s highest battlefield, at 21,000 feet. Soldiers are taught to survive first and then fight. Soldiers are trained at Siachen Battle School for three weeks in icecraft before they go there.

Soldiers walk for two weeks from the base camp to get acclimatised. When the glacier moves, crevasses form, so they are trained in using ladders to cross them. Food, fuel for heat and fibre reinforced plastic huts are constantly flown in by helicopters.

The Indian army also plays a very important role in fighting terrorists within the nation in areas like Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Jharkhand. The army is using the world’s hottest chilli, Assam’s bhut jalokia to fight terrorists.